Laterally movable doors for railway cars



March 21, W A BEAUCHAMP LATERALLY MOVABLE DOORS FOR RAILWAY CARS Filed Aug. 1l, 1958 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 IN V EN TOR. W/LF/ED H. 55am/6MP BMM @TTY

March 21, 1961 w. A. BEAUCHAMP LATERALLY MOVABLE DOORS FOR RAILWAY CARS Filed Aug. ll, 1958 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 IN V EN TOR.

March 21, 1961 W A, BEAUCHAMP 2,975,490

LATERALLY IUVABLE DOORS FOR RAILWAY CARS Filed Aug. l1, 1958 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 mm o@ JN VEN TOR. WMF/P50 69. BEUcHr-zMP United 2,975,490 LATERALLY MOVABLllSOORS FOR RAILWAY Filed Aug. 11, 1958, Ser. No. 754,358

9 Claims. (Cl. 20-23) This invention relates to laterally movable doors for railway cars and more particularly to locking mechanism for said doors and to the association of such locking mechanism with the doors.

It is an object of this invention to provide laterally movable doors for railway cars which shall have locking mechanims located therein.

A further object is to provide laterally movable doors for railway cars which shall have locking mechanism located therein and which shall be so constructed as to house and protect the locking mechanism.

A further object is to provide laterally 'movable doors for railway cars wherein the `doors shall have reinforcing members adapted Vto enclose and protect locking mechanism located within the doors.

A further `object is` to provide laterally movable doors for railway `cars which shall have locking mechanism located therein operable by the mechanism which imparts lateral movement to the doors.

A further object is `to provide novel locking mechanism for laterally movable doors.

A further object is to provide locking mechanism for laterally movable doors of railway cars which shall be automatically operable by the mechanism for imparting lateral movement to the doors and so designed as to permit location of the locking mechanism to better resist bulging loads against the doors.

Other objects of the invention will become clear as the description thereof proceeds.

In the `drawings forming part of this specification:

Fig.` 1 is a fragmentary portion of an insulated railwaycar equipped with laterally movable doors embodyf ing the instant invention. p

Fig. 2 is an enlarged elevation of `a door shown in Fig.` 1. 1 t t Fig. 3 is a vertical sectiontaken on line 3 3 of Fig. 1.

portion of -the rates Patent O Fig. 4 is a horizontal section taken on line 4--4.of

Fig. 1. l l t Fig. 5 is a vertical section taken on line 5-5 of Fig. 1. Fig. 6 is a horizontal section taken on line 6-6 of Fig. l. t

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary elevation of a portion of the locking mechanism and door reinforcing members enclosing `this portion, the door panel being omitted.

In the drawings the reference numeral 10 designates a portion of a side wall of a railway car which for the purpose Yof illustration is shown as a refrigerator car.

The side wall 10 is formed with a door' opening 11 which isadapted to be closed by a laterally movable door 12.

The door 12 embodies an outer metallic panel 13 the vertical margins of which are reinforced by substantially W-shaped metallic members 14 and 15. The horizontal margins of the metallic panel 13 are reinforced by similar members, the bottom member being shown at 16. It will be understood that the top marginal reinforcing member (not shown) is similar in construction to the member16V and is disposed along the upper horizontal margin of the door in reverse position to the member ICC 16. All of these reinforcing members are well known as are the wooden stiles 17 and 18 carried by the reinforcing members 14 and 15 and the wooden rails such as 19 which are similarly carried by the reinforcing member 16 and its counterpart at the upper horizontal margin of the door.

The remainder of the door construction may be of any desired form, one such form being illustrated in Fig. 4 of the drawings. the door structure may take, it is apparent that it will provide an inner surface which lies in the same plane as the inner surface of the side wall 10.

Similarly, the outer surface of the door as shown in Fig. 4 of the drawings lies substantially flush with the outer surface of the sidewall 10.

The metallic panel 13 of the laterally movable door 12 is additionally reinforced by a vertical hat-shaped member 20 secured to the inner face of the panel and extending along the middle of the panel. Spaced horizontally extending hat-shaped reinforcing members 21 and 22 are also secured to the inner face of the metallic panel 13 adjacent to the upper andplower margins of the door. These horizontal reinforcing members intersect the vertical hat-shaped reinforcing member 20 and at the point of intersection the latter member is interrupted to permit the horizontal reinforcing members 21 and 22 to extend continuously between the marginal reinforcing members 14'and 15. It will be understood, of course, that the reinforcing members are secured as by means of welding to each other and to the marginal reinforcing members. A

The horizontal and vertical hat-shaped reinforcing members serve in addition to their reinforcing function to house and completely protect locking mechanism for the door whichis located within the door. This locking mechanism comprises oppositely acting pairs of hori- Zontal locking bolts 23 and 24 which are disposed within and protected by the horizontal hat-shaped reinforcing members 21 and `22. The ends of the locking bolts are adapted to project through the vertical edges ofthe door as shown in Fig. 4 of the drawings and are guided by means of pairs of ferrules 25 and 26 which are secured to the vertical marginal portions of the door as by means of rivets `27 and 28. The locking mechanism also ernbodies a vertical actuating bar 29 disposed within and protected by the vertical hat-shaped reinforcing member 20. t t

The actuating bar 29 moves vertically within the reinforcement 20 in order to impart horizontal locking and unlocking movement to the pairs of locking bars 23 and 24. Vertical movement ofthe actuating bar 29 is ob- Atained automatically by the operating mechanism indicated generallyby the reference numeral 30 mounted upon the metallic panel 13 Vfor imparting lateral movement toY the door toward and away from the door opening. This operating mechanism is fully described and claimed in applicants Patent No. 2,658,243, granted November l0, 1953,- which is incorporated herein by reference. Briefly, the operating mechanism 30 may be described as having a cast bracket member 31 provided with inwardly and outwardly extending hollow bosses 32 and 33. Therboss 33 is internally threaded in order to receive a screw member 34 which is adapted to extend into the boss 32 when the door is seated in the door opening. A double-handled lever 35 is secured as by means of welding upon the outer end of the screw member 34. The double-handled lever 35 is rotatably interlocked as indicated at 36 with a follower 37 slidably mounted upon the boss 33.

The follower 37 is adapted to receive the adjacent ends p of levers 38 and 39 pivotally secured to clevises 40 and Whatever form the remainder ofV and 43 rotatably mounted upon the door panel '13 by means of pairs of brackets 44, 45 and 46 secured as by means of rivets to the panel. Cranks 47 and 48 are secured to the upper ends of the pipes 42 and 43 and cranks 49 und 50 are secured to the lower ends of the pipes 42 and 43. The upper cranks 47 and 48 are associated with a guide and retaining member 51 secured to the side Wall above the door opening, the structure of which and its relationship to the cranks 47 and 48 being clearly illustrated -and `described in applicants hereinabove identiiied patent. The lower cranks 49 and 5t) are rotatably received within roller hangers 52 and 53 which are adapted to move along va supporting track 54 secured to the side sill reinforcement 55 by means of a plurality of brackets 56.

To close the door it is moved lalong the outside of the side wall upon thehangers 52 and 53 which roll along the supporting track 54 until the door is opposite the door opening 11. Such movement of the door is limited by the front stops 57 and 58. The levers 38 and 39 are then swung toward each other whereupon rotation is imparted to the pipes 42 and 43 until engagement occurs between a` gasket 59 carried by the door and the front and rear door posts 60 `and 61. The ends of the levers 38 and 39 are then supported in the follower 37. The double- 'handled lever 35 is now rotated clockwise causing it to move toward the door :and imparting sliding movement toward the door to the yfollower' 37. Additional rotation is thus imparted to the pipes 42 and 43 and through the action of the upper and lower cranks nal lateral movement of the door occurs at which time it takes the position relative to the side wall 10` as shown in Fig. 4 of the drawings.

The sliding movement of the follower 37 is utilized by the instant invention to impart downward vertical movement to the actuating bar 29. To accomplish this the follower 37 is `formed with spaced depending anges 62 and 63 through which a pin 64 extends. The pin 64 passes through a slot 65 formed in the upper arm 66 of a bell crank 67 mounted upon a pin 68 supported by ears 69 and 70 cast upon the bracket 31. The lower portion of the bell crank 67 is forked to provide spaced lower arms 71 and 72 which carry a pin 73 that projects beyond the lower `arms 71 and 72. The branches 74 and 75 of a `forked link 76 are pivotally mounted upon the extensions'of the pin 73. The branches 74 and 75 straddle the inwardly extending boss 32. The upper end of the link 76 is provided with a boss 77 which extends through an opening 78 formed in the lower end of the actuating bar 29.

It will be apparent from the foregoing description that sliding movement of the follower 37 toward the door as the lever 35 is rotated clockwise will impart swing movement to the bell crank 67 about the pin 68. lln this movement the upper arm 66 will swing inwardly and the lower arms 71 and 72 will swing downwardly. The downward swinging movement of the arms 71 land 72 will be imparted to the branches 74 and 75 of the link 76 which through its engagement with the lower end of the actuating bar 29 will impart a downward movement to this bar.

, Similarly when it is 'desired to move the door =12 laterally out of the door opening initial lateral movement will be imparted thereto upon rotation of the doublehandled lever `35 in counterclockwise direction. 'This will produce sliding movement of the `follower 37 away from the door and swinging movement in the same direction to the ends of the levers 38 and 39. Consequent rotation of the pipes 42 and 43 and action of the upper and lower cranks will impart initial outward lateral movement tothe door. Thereafter the levers may readily be disengaged from the follower and rotated away from each other to complete the outward 4lateral movement of the door through the `action of the pipes and the cranks. lDuring the outward sliding movement of the follower 37 the pin 64 which is carrie-d by the flanges 62 and 63 of the follower will produce swinging movement of the bell crank 67. The upper -arm 66 thereof will swing outwardly while the lower arms-71 and 72 thereof will swing upwardly. This upward swinging movement of the arms 71 and 72 will impart an upward movement to the link 76 through the pin 73 and by reason of the engagement of the :link and the lower end of the actuating bar 29 an upward vertical movement will be imparted to the bar.

The vertical movement of the bar 29 is converted into horizontal locking and unlocking movements of the pairs of locking bolts 23 and 24. For this purpose bearing plates 79 and 80 are secured to the horizontal hat-shaped reinforcing members 21 and 22 and to the metallic panel 13 respectively as shown more clearly in Fig. 4 of the drawings. Pairs of bell cranks 81 and 82 are pivotally supported between these bearing plates by means of pins 83 and 84. Each of the bell cranks 81 and 82 is provided with arms 85 extending toward each other which carry pins 86 projecting through pairs of oblong openings 87 formed in the bar 29. To permit the projection of the pins 86 as indicated above the bearing plates 79 are coped as indicated at 79a. The bell cranks 81 and 82 lare also provided with downwardly extending arms 88 which carry pins 89 that extend through openings formed in the adjacent ends of the pairs of locking bolts 23 and 24.

When the vertical bar 29 is moved upwardly as hereinbefore described the pivotal connection between it and the pins 86 formed on the bell cranks will impart pivotal movement to the bell cranks about the pins 83 and 84. During this movement of the bell cranks the arms 88 will swing toward each other and through the pivotal connection between these arm and the pairs of locking bolts 23 and 24 horizontal movement of the locking bolts toward each other will be obtained. This movement of the locking bolts effects their release from keepers 90 and 91 provided on the door posts 60 and 61 contiguous with the door opening. Disengagement of the locking bolts from their keepers occurs simultaneously with the initial lateral outward movement of the door imparted to it by means of the hereinabove described door operating mechanism.

Similarly, when this mechanism is actuated in order to impart final lateral movement of the door into the door opening the vertical bar 29 will be moved downwardly. During this movement the arms 85 of the pairs of bell cranks 81 and 82 will move downwardly and the arms 88 of the bell cranks will move outwardly. Outward movement is thereby imparted to the pairs of locking bolts 23 fand 24 whereby they are projected beyond the vertical edges of the door into their keepers 90 and 91. The inner bearing plates 79 are ilanged'outwardly as shown at 92 and 93 into proximity with the locking bolts 23 and 24 and serve as guides for the locking bolts.

By reason of the hereinabove described structure the lower pair of locking bolts 23 and 24 are located in the area of greatest pressure from lading within the oar so as to better resist such pressure.

lSince the horizontal hat-shaped reinforcing members extend continuously between the vertical marginal reinforcing members 14 and 15 openings as shown in Fig. 3 of the drawings are provided in the former thereby permitting the vertical bar 29 to extend continuously throughout its height.

Additional automatically actuated lockingmeans is pro- This vided tor the lower middle portion of the door. means is in the form of a vertical locking bolt 94 the upper end of which is formed with a hollow boss 95 lying between the branches 71 and 72 of the bell crank 67. The pin 73 of the bell crank extends through the hollow boss 95 so as to establish a pivotal connection between the bell crank 67 and the locking bolt 94.

The lower end ofthe locking bolt is guided in its vertical movement by means of a bracket 96 preferably formed integral with the cast bracket 31 secured to the metallic panel 13. In projected position the locking bolt 94 is received within a keeper 97 carried by the car wall below the door opening.

It will be apparent from the foregoing description that as the door is initially moved laterally out of the door opening the bell crank 67 will be pivoted about the pin 68 so that the lbranches 71 and 72 of thebell crank will swing upwardly. Since the locking bolt 94 is pivotally connected with :the branches by means of the pin 73 upward movement will be imparted automatically to the locking bolt 94 effecting its disengagement from the keeper 97. Similarly during the final lateral movement of the door into the door opening the branches 71 and 72 of the bell crank -67 will be swung downwardly automatically imparting a downward vertical movement to the locking bolt 94 and effecting its engagement with its keeper 97.

It will be apparent that numerous changes and modifications in the details of the invention will be clear to those skilled in the art. It is intended, therefore, that all such modifications and changes be comprehended within this invention which is to be limited only by the scope of the claims appended hereto.

l. A laterally movable door for railway cars, said door when in closed position being seated in a door opening formed in a side of a railway car in iiush relationship therewith and being so constructed as to retain grain yin said car While eliminating the usual grain doors heretofore required, said door comprising an outer metallic panel, vertical and horizontal hat-shaped reinforcements secured to said panel within said door and cooperating with `said panel to provide a vertical and a plurality of horizontal box sections, a single vertically slidable bar disposed within saidV vertical box section, horizontally slidable locking bolts disposed within said horizontal box sections, locking bolt actuating means mounted within said horizontal box sections, said locking bolt actuating means being operatively associated with said bar and said vlocking bolts for translating vertical movement of said bar into horizontal locking and unlocking movements of said bolts through openings provided in the vertical edges of said door, and means for imparting vertical movement to said bar.

2. A laterally movable door for railway cars, said door when in closed position being seated in a door -opening formed in a side of a railway car in flush relationship therewith and being so constructed as to retain grain in said car while eliminating the usual grain doors heretofore required, said door comprising an outer metallic panel, mechanism mounted on said panel for imparting lateral movement to said door, said mechanisrn embodying a laterally slidable member, a single vertically slidable bar mounted within said door, horizontally slidable locking bolts mounted Within said door, locking bolt actuating means mounted within said door, said means being operatively associated With said bar and said locking bolts for translating vertical movement of said bar into horizontal locking and unlocking movements of said bolts through openings provided in the vertical edges of said door, and means mounted on said door and operatively associated with said laterally sliding member and said bar for translating the lateral movement of said member into vertical movement of said bar.

3. The structure as set forth inclaim 2 wherein said latter means includes a bell crank pivotally mounted on said door and pivotally connected with said laterally sliding member and with a link which engages said bar.

4. The structure as set -forth in claim 3 wherein said bell crank is bifurcated to provide spaced branches through which the pivot pin of the pivotal connection between said bell crank and said link extends, a vertically sliding locking bolt is pivotally mounted upon said pivot pin between said branches and a guide and retaining member for said latter locking bolt is provided on said door.

5. A laterally movable door for railway cars, said door when in closed position being seated ina door opening formed in a side of a railway car in ilush relationship therewith and being so constructed as to retain grain in said car while eliminating the usual grain doors heretofore required, said door comprising an outer metallic panel, mechanism mounted on said panel for imparting lateral movement to said door, said.mechanism embodying a laterally sliding member, a vertical and a plurality of horizontal hat-shaped reinforcements secured to said panel within said door and cooperating with said panel to provide a vertical and horizontal box sections, a single vertically slidable bar disposed Within said Vertical box section, horizontally slidable locking bolts: disposed within said horizontal box sections, locking bolt actuating means mounted within said horizontal box sections, said means being operatively associated with said bar and said locking bolts for translating vertical movement of said bar into horizontal locking and unlocking movements of said bolts through openings provided in the vertical edges of said door, and means mounted on said door and operatively associated with' said laterally sliding member and said bar for translating the lateral movement of said member into vertical movement of said bar.

6. A laterally movable door for railway cars, said door when in closed position being seated in a door opening formed in a side of a railway car in ush relationship therewith and being so constiucted as.to retain grain in said car while eliminating the usual grain doors heretofore required, said door comprising an outer metallic panel, a vertical and a plurality of horizontal hatshaped reinforcements secured to said panel Within said door and cooperating with said panel to provide a vertical and horizontal box sections, a single vertical slidable bar disposed Within Asaid vertical box section, horizontally slidable locking bolts disposed within said horizontal box sections, horizontally spaced bell cranks pivotally mounted within said horizontal box sections, said bell cranks having arms connected with said bar and arms connected with `said locking bolts, and means for imparting vertical movement to said bar.

7. A laterally movable door for box cars, said door when in closed position being seated in a door opening formed in a side off a railway car in flush relationship therewith and being so constructed as to retain grain in said car while eliminating the usual grain doors heretofore required, said door comprising a single vertically slidable bar mounted within said door, a plurality of horizontally slidable locking bolts mounted within said door, locking bolt actuating means mounted on said door on Ithe inside thereof, said means being operatively associated with said bar and said locking bolts for translating vertical movement of said bar into horizontal locking and unlocking movements of said locking bolts through openings provided inthe vertical edges of said door, and means mounted on said door for imparting vertical movement to said bar.

8. A laterally movable door for box cars, said door when in closed position being seated in a door opening formed in a side of a railway car in Hush relationship ,therewith and being so constructed as to retain grain in said car while eliminating the usual grain doors heretofore required, said door comprising a single vertically slidable bar mounted within said door, a plurality of horizontally slidable locking bolts mounted within said door, a plurality of bell cranks swingably mounted on said door on the inside thereof, said bell cranks pivotally engaging said vertical bar land said locking bolts respectively, and means accessible from the outside of said door for imparting vertical movement to said bar, said bar imparting swinging movement to said bell cranks, said bell cranks imparting horizontal locking and unlocking movements to said bolts.

9. A laterally movable door for box cars, said door when in closed position being seated in a door opening formed in a side of a railway car in ush relationship therewith andfbeing so constructed as to retain grain in said car while eliminating the usual grain doors heretofore required, said door comprising a single vertically `slidable bar mounted Within said door, a plurality of horizontally slidable locking bolts mounted within said door, locking bolt actuating means mounted on said door on the inside thereof, said means being operatively associated with said bar and said locking-bolts for translating vertical movement of said bar into horizontal locking and unlocking movements of said locking bolts through openings provided in the vertical edges of said door, a vertical locking bolt on the outside of said door for securing the lower portion of said door to said car,

' means on the outside of said door for imparting vertical References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,729,038 French Sept. 24, 1929 2,316,199 Vetter Apr. 13, 1943 2,473,065 Miller June 14, 1949 2,570,563 Kreimendahl Oct. 9, 1951 2,690,144 Ellis etal Sept. 28, 1954 2,834,067 Beauchamp May 13, 1958 

